Business Briefs

The decision by trans-Tasman airline rivals, Air New Zealand and Qantas, to abandon a planned alliance in September is good news for many Pacific Island travelers. Had the coalition gone ahead it would have created a monopoly on many Pacific Island routes, raising fears of airfare cost increases. Under an alliance, Qantas would have bought 22.5 per cent of Air New Zealand for NZ$550 million, as well as coordinating services and sharing profits on all their flights to, from and within New Zealand. Pacific Islanders residing in Australia and New Zealand have benefited from the specially reduced fares introduced this year by Air New Zealand. Other airlines have responded by introducing their own reduced special fares.

-PR

Ireland has blocked direct telephone calls to most Pacific Island countries because of Internet scams. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) in Ireland said in September it made the move following a jump in cases of modem hijacking. Irish consumers can no longer make telephone calls to 13 countries, including Norfolk Island, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Nauru. Scammers hack into computers and install software, which changes the user's Internet dial-up settings, then claim a portion of the fee for an automatically dialed telephone call that adds large amounts to user's phone bills. Many small Pacific nations have leased out batches of telephone numbers to generate revenue.

-GJ

Guam

A report from the Guam Department of Labor said that there were 1,190 fewer total jobs on the island in June 2004 than in June 2003. The report, released Sept. 16, indicated that most of the jobs lost were in the construction industry as typhoon recovery was completed following Pongsona in December 2002. As tourist arrival numbers increase, in June 820 more people held jobs in hotels than the previous year. The executive branch of the government of Guam added 360 employees between June 2003 and the following June, as that number climbed to 7,060.

-FW

Representatives of Continental Micronesia and its pilots union, Air Line Pilots Association signed a "partnership accord" in Guam on September 21. Although not a contract, the agreement commits the parties to mutual cooperation, maintaining open lines of communication and civil discourse. The agreement, in part, is recognition of the current challenges facing the airline. "This is an unprecedented agreement," says Dale Surdick, a Continental pilot and chairman of the Guam chapter of the ALPA. A similar agreement was signed September 1 in Houston between Continental Micronesia's parent company, Continental Airlines and the national ALPA officials.

-FW

Guam's Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport Authority broke ground on September 9 on the $1.1 million DHL Guam Express Package Facility. The airport will lease the completed 698 square meter facility to DHL Worldwide Express for 10 years for $1.6 million. The building is on airport property in Tiyan-the former Naval Air Station that was returned to the government of Guam in 2000. The facility will permit the company to expand its operations in Guam, its regional hub.

-FW

CNMI

Pacific Gardenia Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Federal District Court on September 13. Ronald D. Sablan, president of the company, declared estimated assets of $10 million with debts of the same amount. Following the filing for bankruptcy, Sablan resigned as head of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI). Prior to his filing for bankruptcy, the local Superior Court was considering a motion to have a receiver appointed to take over operations of the hotel, bar and grill, a popular nightspot on the beach in the heart of Chalan Kanoa.

-FR

The Marianas Variety's Guam edition was launched on Oct. 1. The paper, published Monday-Friday, is going head-to-head with the market-dominant Gannett paper, Pacific Daily News after a five year absence. Saipan-based publisher Abed Younis says he hopes to start a Saturday edition in the near future. The Variety now operates papers in Saipan, Guam and Palau.

-GJ

Samoa

Fijian brewery Carlton Brewery Fiji Limited has purchased the remaining shares held by the Samoa government in its main brewery, Samoa Breweries Ltd. The brewery's main product is Vailima beer. The estimated ST$6.8 million (about US$2.6million) deal finalized on 15 Sept. means that Fiji now has an overwhelming majority shareholding interest of 93.8 percent.

-PR

The South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD)-the Grameen Bank styled micro finance lending agency operating in Samoa since January 2000-has announced passing the T$5 million (US$1.8 million) mark in loans. SPBD was the initiative of founder Greg Cassagrande, a former U.S. business executive. It provides micro finance for the poor and low-income families and groups who are normally outside the reach or scope of other finance institutions. The foundation works mainly with women working in groups, to help them set up small family based businesses such as bakeries, sewing and weaving, vegetable growing and selling, store keeping, and fishing, by giving them small loans of around T$750 (US$200) to start, with the possibility of graduating to larger amounts later. Since the foundation began operations in Samoa in January 2000, some 5,600 loans have been given out to assist 3,800 low-income families.

-AT

The Samoa cabinet has approved a request for an official agreement allowing Warwick International Hotels to lease land in Vavau and Faleolo villages in Samoa for hotel developments. Warwick Hotels says it intends to develop a five-star destination resort in Vavau and a four-star all inclusive destination resort at Faleolo.

-FS

Cook Islands

Plans by the Tepaki Group to start building the Cook Islands' first five star hotel in Rarotonga by December has been delayed by an environment impact assessment (EIA) report. The report is a standard government requirement for any construction and a compulsory 30-day period is given for public submissions. The developers had submitted no report as Pacific Magazine went to press. The group wanted construction to begin between November 1 and December 11 but this has been delayed. Tepaki Group wants to build on the controversial Sheraton project, the white elephant in Takitumu district that was abandoned by Italian contractors in the early 1990s. Tepaki Group has held meetings with farmers on the fresh food supply for the hotel. A container ship has been acquired by the group to guarantee a direct service of goods from New Zealand for the proposed Captain Cook Hilton Lagoon Resort in Takitumu and another proposed sister hotel in Aitutaki, the Captain Bligh Lagoon Resort and Spa.

-UKM

Solomon Islands

The Asian Development Bank is to focus US$3 million in grants on the country's transport and private sectors. The ADB's board of directors recently endorsed a country strategy for the Solomons. Robert Siy, director of operations for ADB's Pacific Department, says the business climate of Solomon Islands needs to improve if the private sector is to generate growth. ADB has predicted Solomons will achieve real growth of four-to-five percent in 2005 based on a continuing stable law and order, progress in government financial management and a gradual return of investor confidence.

-MLOC

FSM

The Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP) is a relatively new non-governmental organization making headlines internationally with various 'karat' banana presentations given by the tireless Dr. Lois Englberger, local IFCP advisor, and chairman Adelino Lorens, also the director of the Pohnpei State Department of Agriculture. The main focus of the organization has been to highlight the benefits of eating the wide variety of bananas and other local foods on Pohnpei through modern methods of preparation. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community has purchased 100 copies of IFCP's recent publication, Pohnpei Bananas: A Photo Collection, for use regionally.

-OW

Palau

Palau Visitors Authority statistics indicate an upward trend in 2004. As of September 1, 2004, 59,818 visitors arrived in Palau-close to the 63,328 total for all of 2003. July 2004, with the 9th Festival of Pacific Arts, topped all records with 9,273 visitors. While arrivals plummeted in April-June of 2003 due to the worldwide SARS epidemic, August 2003 recovered with the high for that year of 7,422-a number still lower than the average of 7,477 arrivals per month in 2004.

-NC

Nauru

Air Nauru has moved from its Melbourne, Australia office of 30 years as a result of the fallout of the economic collapse of the Nauru government. Air Nauru's old home is up for sale and the airline is moving to new premises a few blocks away at 50 Queen Street, Melbourne where it will be a neighbor to Air New Zealand. The office move apparently uncovered "all sorts of old Air Nauru memorabilia from the days when the airline flew to 22 destinations around the Pacific with a fleet of Boeing jets," according to Chief Executive Geoff Bowmaker.

-SM

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea corporate giants Bank South Pacific (BSP) and New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. (NBPOL) are spreading their wings into the Pacific with plans to expand their operations to Niue and the Solomon Islands. NBPOL managing director Ahamad Mohammad says the company, owned by Malaysian company Kulim (Malaysian) Berhad, is expanding to Solomon Islands because it was their vision to increase capacity.

BSP will takeover Westpac Bank's Niue operations with the company chairman Noreo Beangke saying they look forward to providing banking services to the Pacific state including access through its correspondent banks to services in New Zealand.

-AR

Australian-based consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tomatsu has been commissioned by the Papua New Guinea government to conduct an independent review into the processes and procedures that were followed leading up to the sales and purchase agreement signed by the Independent Public Business Corporation to sell 51 percent of Telikom PNG Ltd. to Zimbabwe-based Econet. PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said the PNG Cabinet would make a final decision on the proposed sale based on the recommendations of the review. The sale of Telikom PNG Ltd has been controversial with some critics claiming Econet lacked financial capacity to pay.

-AR

Fiji

High-end Fiji furniture producer, Pacific Green, is making inroads in the exploding Chinese market. It opened the first of five planned showrooms in Beijing, China in September. Pacific Green uses innovative technology to turn palm wood into furniture, and is headquartered near Sigatoka, Fiji, with a regional office in Sydney.

-SM

Contributors: Peter Rees, Frank Whitman, Frank Rosario, Afamasaga Toleafoa, Fili Sagapolutele, Ulamila Kurai-Marrie, Mary-Louise O'Callaghan, Olivier Wortel, Nancy Chism, Samantha Magick, Giff Johnson and Alex Rheeney.